Calgary-founded visual networking platform provider Userful has secured $10 million CAD in an all-equity investment round comprising new and returning investors.
Userful claims that over a thousand companies in more than 100 countries have used its platform.
A spokesperson for Userful told BetaKit that the company calls this investment a post-seed round, and rather than an extension to its past seed financing the $10 million was a new round raised at a higher valuation.
The financing, which closed in March, saw the participation of BDC Capital’s Industrial, Clean and Energy Technology (ICE) Venture Fund and Yaletown Partners. Birchcliff Partners, Accelerate Fund, and other investors from Userful’s Series A round recommitted. Userful did not disclose all of the investors that participated in the round.
Operating since 2015, Userful’s platform facilitates the centralized management of a company’s visual network. Its technology operates directly on smart displays with no hardware required or an adapter to any legacy display. Userful has since expanded from its headquarters in Calgary to open offices in San Ramon, California and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A spokesperson for Userful told BetaKit that its headquarters is in Silicon Valley, however the company has a large presence in downtown Calgary where it occupies one floor of the First Tower building. Its research and development, as well as a large portion of its business operations, is located in Calgary.
Userful’s platform allows users to deploy video walls, digital signs, and kiosks for uses including mission-critical control rooms, digital signages, corporate communication, informative dashboard walls, interactive kiosks, immersive customer experience centres, and more.
Userful claims that over a thousand companies in more than 100 countries have used its platform. Its customer base includes Hilton Hotels & Resorts, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ford Motor Company, Suffolk Construction, Nestlé, and Deloitte.
Userful recently brought on four new strategic advisors. Joining Userful’s advisory board is Brian Lewis, co-founder and chief architect of Elemental Technologies (acquired by AWS) and Mohammad Moshirpour, software engineering teaching chair and program director at the University of Calgary’s Department of Electrical and Software Engineering.
Lewis and Moshirpour join Userful’s chief technology officer Reza Razavi and board member John LeMoncheck, AV-industry veteran, on the company’s technology strategy committee.
Joining as strategic advisors to Userful CEO John Marshall are Matt Sachse, managing partner at AQ Technology Partners; and Neil Frizzell, managing partner at Chrysalis Capital Advisors Inc., as well as co-founder and partner at Birchcliff Partners LP.
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The recent $10 million financing follows Userful’s $3 million seed round in 2019 led by Accelerate Fund II, managed by Yaletown Partners. With a total funding of approximately $13.9 million, Userful also received $950,000 from the Canadian government as part of the Western Innovation Initiative in 2018.
Featured image from Userful